The Power of Words (Speaking The Truth In Love)

Romans 10:8–15

     ⁸But what does it say? “The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); ⁹because if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved. ¹¹The scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.”

    ¹²For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him. ¹³For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” ¹⁴But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him?      ¹⁵And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

Colossians 4:2-6

    ²Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving. ³At the same time pray for us as well that God will open to us a door for the word, that we may declare the mystery of Christ, for which I am in prison, ⁴so that I may reveal it clearly, as I should.

    ⁵Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time. ⁶Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone.

“…that we may declare the mystery of Christ,” +Colossians 4:2

 

    A few weeks back I had the opportunity to go to see the Brewer’s play on Bob Uecker Bobble Head Day. The place was sold out (and I’m fairly certain it was because of the bobble heads.)

    The only tickets that we wanted to pay for were in Bernie’s Terrace, which are “nosebleed” seats above the foul pole in left field. They weren’t “bad” seats, you could see the whole field, there was a nice breeze. But, in about the 2^nd inning the dozen or so seats right behind us filled up with a group of young people who had decided to come to the game drunk and they were still drinking. I think they thought they were having a good time. From my perspective they were loud, obnoxious and acting inappropriately.

    At one point, one of the young men who was particularly inebriated and whose name was John; (I found that out because the young man right behind my right ear kept yelling his name for no apparent reason) got up from his seat, stepped into the row below him (our row) and then fell over two more rows of seats into the people who were sitting there. People were (understandably) upset and one of John’s companions finally picked him up and tried to guide him down the stairs and presumably out of the stadium.

    On the way down, John who thought he was funny (like only drunk people can think they’re funny) decided to jump up onto the railing and almost fell on to the concrete fifteen feet below. His friend reached out in time to keep him from going over the edge. John was a hoot or at least some of John’s other friends thought this whole thing was very funny. I (on the other hand) thought this was very sad but I understand that I am just a prude.

    What I was thinking was that someone needed to say something to John (and to a half-dozen of John’s friends) about what they were doing to themselves and to the people who happened to be situated around them.

    Someone needed to say something about how they may have ruined what could have been a pleasant afternoon for dozens of people. Someone needed to say to John that he endangered himself and other people by his actions and that it wasn’t funny. Somebody needed to care about John.

    THE PROBLEM WAS THAT even though I was convinced that SOMEONE NEEDED TO SPEAK I was also convinced that that person WAS PROBABLY NOT going to be me.

    This is not meant to BE an excuse for my inaction. I believe that I was the wrong person to speak to this group of “20-something’s” FOR ALL OF THE REASONS WE HAVE BEEN OUTLINING ALL SUMMER long. They DIDN’T KNOW ME; they DIDN’T TRUST ME; and JOHN (in particular) DIDN’T KNOW THAT I might CARE ABOUT HIS LIFE. So, other than the fact that John was hugely drunk (which made any kind of discussion a problem) I was not in the best position to have a conversation with him or with any of them. BUT someone needed too OR should I say, “someone still needs too.”

    What we keep reminding ourselves of is that WE ARE CALLED by God TO REACH OUT TO PEOPLE LIKE JOHN who are living ALL AROUND US every day. Someone DOES need to speak to people like John about their behavior and maybe HAVE A CONVERSATION about what might be a deep-seated emptiness in their lives; a God shaped hole in their hearts that only Jesus can fill.

    BUT THE PROBLEM IS THAT OUR OUTREACH CAN’T BE FROM IGNORANCE OR LACED WITH JUDGMENT OR BE motivated by our own personal discomfort. We can’t decide to speak simply because we have become irritated by the actions of other people BUT we should speak because we care.

    I know that I’m sounding presumptuous. Maybe this was the first time that these young people had over indulged and maybe they will never do it again. Maybe they’ve learned a lesson from this afternoon at the ballpark. Maybe, but I won’t know AND that is exactly part of the point I’m trying to make here. There has to be someone who is connected to this group of young people who has earned the right to care for them, WHO KNOWS IF THIS IS AN ABERRATION OR ON-GOING BEHAVIOR and who MIGHT BE willing to have a difficult conversation with THEIR FRIENDS precisely because they care.

    In general, this is the work that we have been commissioned to do but it can’t be done like firing a “shot-gun” at a target, hoping that we will maybe hit something. Caring is personal and for these conversations to be meaningful they have to be approached personally (maybe we would even say STRATEGICALLY.) These conversations need to be done by the right person at the right time.

    In the ballpark (on that Sunday afternoon) I was not that person BUT that doesn’t mean that I won’t be that person at some other time, in some other setting.

    I SAID THAT I DIDN’T WANT THIS CONVERSATION TO BE AN EXCUSE FOR ME AND I don’t want this conversation to become an excuse for you.

    I don’t want you to intentionally decide that this will never be your work to do because there may be a time when it will be something that ONLY you can do.

    In the meantime all of us need to commit ourselves to being prepared to care about the people we live with every day AND we need to be prepared (when the moment arises) to say a good word for Jesus. Paul said,

“…how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him?” Romans 10:14

    We need to understand that words have power especially when those words are spoken to the right person by the right person at the right time and we should never get it into our heads that we are not going to be that person who is used by God to help someone who is lost be found.

    So, THIS is another CONVERSATION ABOUT friendship, about PREPAREDNESS and about being determined to actually be what God has called us to be; his witnesses in the world.

    We are all called to be evangelists but most of us misunderstand what that means. We have this picture of HAVING TO GO AROUND knocking on people’s doors or confronting someone on the street and trying to argue them into believing in the God we serve. We have been taught to dislike something that should be as natural as breathing.

    We actually had this conversation a few weeks ago in both my Wednesday night bible study and my Sunday morning class. The word “evangelism” which comes from the Greek word “euangelion” means “Good News” and an evangelist is then someone who shares good news of hope and love and peace that is made available to us through a relationship with the risen Jesus. There are people living all around us who need to hear that there is hope for their lives and you and I have been given the privilege of sharing with those friends a relationship that is changing our lives and can change their lives as well.

    Evangelism, then, is building relationships with people. Evangelism is making and being friends with the people around us AND then being in a place where we can SPEAK TO THOSE PEOPLE WE HOLD DEAR, ABOUT the love, joy, peace and patience that fills our lives.

    There WILL be a moment when we HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY to share, with people we care about, how their actions have consequences and how they are impacting the people directly and indirectly around them. There WILL be an appropriate time for us to share with OUR FRIENDS THE KIND OF information that might EVEN save their lives.

    There WILL BE those moments and we need to be ready to take advantage of them. We need to be, like Paul, asking for people around us to pray,

“…that God will open to us a door for the word, that we may declare the mystery of Christ,”

    If someone should ask, “WHAT DO we SAY?” the answer would be that we talk about the HOPE that we have EXPERIENCED in our own lives. If someone should ask, “WHY should we SPEAK IN THE FIRST PLACE?” the answer would be because we care and if we don’t care then we have even bigger problems to deal with.

    Now, as I come to the end of this conversation  I found that I ended up with two different conclusions. I decided to include them both.

    #1: A few weeks ago the Sikh community was attacked by a “crazed” gunman who for some unknown reason felt the need to take out his hatred and his anger on a group of innocent people.

    As you well know, this isn’t the first time that this kind of thing has happened and (sadly) it probably will not be the last.

    Like many of the people who have decided to strike out in this irrational way this killer was described AS “QUIET” and a “LONER.”

    EACH TIME I hear about these “loners” I wonder if there wasn’t someone who could have spoken to them or cared about them or made an effort to help them see the world in a different way.

    I know that some of this is just an expression of my own helplessness. Like you I want to “DO” SOMETHING, to fix this problem, TO CHANGE THE WORLD and there is no fixing what has already happened in Oak Creek.

     Maybe this is all idealism and naïveté BUT I can’t help believing THAT THERE was someone who could have spoken, to this person at the right time and changed the course of these horrible events.

    Like I’ve said we may be the only one who can speak to someone else’s pain. We may be the person who cares enough but it won’t happen unless WE are committed to building RELATIONSHIPS with the people around us.  It won’t happen unless we as a congregation are committed to reaching out and inviting people (who are lost and wandering) into our lives. Not just into our churches but into our lives.

    #2: A FEW WEEKS BACK MANY OF US PAUSED TO WATCH OLYMPIC ATHLETES from all over the world COMPETE IN “the human drama of athletic competition” and what we saw were thousands of people who had given their entire lives to achieving one singular goal. The stories of the sacrifices of Olympic athletes have inspired people for decades.

    We are called to be people with a singular goal and our lives should inspire the people around us as we give ourselves to this work of loving the lord our God and loving the people around us. We are preparing ourselves to be ready at any moment to make a difference in someone’s life and to make a difference for Jesus.

⁵Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time. ⁶Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer everyone.

    If you haven’t started, then it is time to begin your training program: Bible study, prayer, worship, fellowship and service. Make a friend and be prepared to make a difference.